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European Business Angels Network and Cornerstone Communications Announce the Regional Winners in the 2018 Edition of CEE-Released Project

Press Release | 6.07.2018

European Business Angels Network and Cornerstone Communications Announce the Regional Winners in the 2018 Edition of CEE-Released Project

Finalists of the CEE-Released project were officially announced during EBAN Annual Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which took place between 25-27 June 2018.

The winner of the 2018 edition was Photon, Polish start-up that produces world’s first robot that develops together with a child and introduces children to the world of new technologies through experiences and experiments.

Romania’s 2Performant and Austrian Unispotter landed, ex aequo, the second place in the project.

On June 27th, 2018 European Business Angels Network (EBAN) and Cornerstone Communications officially announced the finalists of the CEE-Released program at EBAN Annual Congress in Sofia. CEE-Released is the first cross-border program in Central and Eastern Europe, organized by EBAN and Cornerstone Communications, that offers the opportunity to propel companies into an international business angels’ environment and other investors – venture capital funds, private equity funds, investment funds that are interested in companies with dynamic, innovative and high growth potential.

CEE-Released is a pan-regional project, carried out in cooperation with stock exchanges, institutional investors of the public and private markets, and providers of professional services servicing the business. The goal of the annually organized CEE-Released project is to carry out a search for and to expose as well as train the best CEE-based companies that may be classified as early-stage business and growth companies, representing various sectors of the economy and operating on local or international markets.

The finalists of the national CEE-Released 2018 Edition that qualified to the regional final were:

Each of the companies had a unique opportunity to pitch their business in front of hundreds of business angels, investors, representatives of the regional stock exchanges, potential partners and clients. The quality of the pitch and the viability of the business model were used by the Jury members in order to select the winner of the 2018 edition of CEE-Released.

The Jury consisted of the following members: Ivan Takev, CEO of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, István Máté-Tóth, Deputy CEO of the Budapest Stock Exchange, Robert Lugowski, Managing Partner of CobinAngels and Ludwik Sobolewski, Co-founder and Partner at Cornerstone Communications.

Photon was voted to be the winner of the 2018 of CEE-Released. Photon is a Polish start-up that produces world’s first robot that develops together with a child and introduces children to the world of new technologies through experiences and experiments.

Romania’s 2Performant and Austian Unispotter landed, ex aequo, the second place in the project.

2Performant is a marketing infrastructure for e-commerce presented to the clients as an easy-to-use, gamified platform where e-shops and marketing specialists are working together at a Cost Per Sale Model. Unispotter on the other hand, is an application that helps users find the perfect program and university for them and helps in the application process, for free.

“CEE-Released project put a spotlight on the best start-ups and scale-ups from the region. We are pleased with the quality of the participating companies and the inspiration and innovation they have brought to the EBAN Annual Summit. We look forward to having them within our network, helping them gain international exposure and access to the much-needed capital” said Candace Johnson, President at EBAN.

“Looking at the companies that participated in CEE Released as well as those that were recognized in Sofia last week, we feel proud because we see tangible evidence of the fact that Central and Eastern Europe region is a robust investment territory, with a growing start-up and scale-up scene. The interest generated in this project shows us that it did truly create a bridge between Eastern Europe and the global networks of investors, business angels and even, the media.” said Ludwik Sobolewski, Co-Founder and Partner at Cornerstone Communications.

European Business Angels Network and Cornerstone Communications were the organizers, promoters and coordinators of CEE-Released. The organization of the program was supported by local business angels’ networks, associated with EBAN, in countries of operations of CEE-Released.

About EBAN:

EBAN – The European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players – is the pan-European representative for the early stage investor community, gathering 184 member organisations in 59 countries around the world. Established in 1999 by a group of pioneer angel networks in Europe with the collaboration of the European Commission and EURADA, EBAN represents a sector estimated to invest 11,4 billion Euros a year and playing a vital role in Europe’s future, notably in the funding of SMEs. EBAN fuels Europe’s growth through the creation of wealth and jobs.

CORNERSTONE COMMNUNICATIONS is the first CEE-focused investor relations business, a capital market agency, market value enhancer and regional internationalizer. The company is dedicated to providing services in the area of investor relations (IR), shareholder engagement, capital markets PR and arranging capital market partnerships between companies and investors. Heartquarted in Bucharest and Warsaw, present throughout the CEE region.

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